Rotary engine.



No. 892,443. PATENTED JULY 7, 1908. v

A. I. OSTRANDER. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17 1907.

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PATENTED JULY 7, 1908.

A. I. OSTRANDER. ROTARY ENGINE.

INVENTOH AkreeZIOsiranaZer BY WITNESSES new 7 E W UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

ALFRED I. OSTRANDER, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

ROTARY ENGINE.

T aZZ whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED I. OSTRANDER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Yonkers, county of Westchester, and State of NewYork, have invented a certain new and useful Multiple-Expansion RotaryEngine, of which the following is a speci fication.

This invention is a rotary engine of that type wherein steam, or othermotive fluid, is used expansively .for the purpose of securing maximumefliciency by an economical consumption of the motive fluid which isadapted to be supplied at relatively low pressure.

In some respects, the invention of the present application is. similarto the invention forming the basis of a prior patent, No. 813,819,granted to me on February 27, 1906, for a multiple expansion rotaryengine, and so far as some features of said present invention areconcerned, they may be considered an improvement upon the engine of theaforesaid patent.

One improvement in the engine consists of a novel construction of themotive fluid ports in the members or abutments of the rotatable pistonand a partition or division wall (one or more), for the purpose ofcontrolling the admission and cutting offat the proper time of themotive fluid during the operations of exhausting such fluid from a highpressure cylinder to a lower pressure cylinder.

Another part of the invention is a new form of cut-off located,preferably, in a hollow part of the piston shaft and in.the plane ofrotation of the inlet ports to the high pressure cylinder. Said cut-offis anchored within the rotary piston and its shaft, and such anchoringof the cut-off is secured, preferably, by a flexible or loose connectionbetween the cut-ofl' and a supply pipe by which the motive fluid is fed,primarily, to the high pressure engine cylinder.

In the new engine, the piston shaft is, preferably, bored out for a partof its length for the purpose of providing a passage whereby the motivefluid is admitted to the high pressure cylinder; and the aforesaidcutoff is so constructed, and it is flexibly connected to the supplypipe, with a view to compensating for inaccuracies in the bore of thepiston shaft and to secure, practically, a

fluid tight fit or engagement therewith.

Another part of the invention consists of means for adjusting thecylinder with respect to the rotary pistons, whereby the Patented July'7, 1908.

Serial No. 384,145.

I cylinder may be brought into proper contact with the rotary pistons atthe point of tangency.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one practicalembodiment of the invention, but the construction shown therein is to beunderstood as illustrative only, and not as defining the limits oftheinvention.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through my new rotary engineon the line 11 of Fig. 2. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical cross sections onthe lines 22 and 33 respectively of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view ofthe multiple piston member or abutment in plan, and the low pressurepiston member or abutment in horizontal section on the line 44 ofFig. 1. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the multiple piston, partly inhorizontal section, the line ofthe section being indicated. by thedotted line 5-5 of Fig. 41. Figs. 6 and 7 are cross sections on thelines 6 6 and 77, respectively, of Fig. 5.

A designates an external stationary casing, preferably cylindrical inshape, and provided with heads, a, (L, and supports, (1?, (t adapted tobe secured in any approved way to a suitable foundation. The headsofsaid casing are provided with external annular flanges, 1), adapted toreceive the ball bearings, B, for the engine shaft, C. Said ballbearings are held in place by stufling boxes, B, having the packings,Z), which are compressed by adjustment of the glands, b said stuflingboxes being fastened in place by bolts, 1) thus preventing leakage ofthe motive fluid around the shaft, C. Within the stationary casing, A,is a rotatable piston cylinder, D, the latter being supported by ballbearings for rotation freely within said casing. The cylinder, D,consists of suitable sections, (Z, (Z, and heads, rZ", (Z. The sections,(Z, (2 of said cylinder clamp a division wall or partition, E, betweentheir adjacent ends, and for this purpose the cylinder is provided withbolts, 6, adapted to fasten the head, d", to the section, (Z, and alsoto clamp the two sections, (Z, (Z, upon the edge portion of the divisionwall, E. The other head, (1, is fastened to the cylinder section, (Z, bybolts, 0. The heads, (Z d, of the rotatable cylini der are provided attheir ends with hubs,f, within which hubs are arranged the ballbearings, F, adapted to support said cylinder loosely within the casing,A.

r justing the cylinder, 1), bodily with respect The engine is equippedwith means for ad-.

to the rotary pistons for the purpose of ad justing the cylinder to aproper contact with the rotary pistons at the point of tangency. Onemeans for securing such adjustment of the cylinder is shown in Fig. 1,wherein slidable members, G, are connected to the heads, a, of thestationary casing, A, by means of bolts, g, the latter passing throughslots, g, in the heads, a, 0,. The adjustable members, G, are providedwith hubs, g adapted to support the ball bearings, F, said hubs, g andthe bearings, F, being in eccentric relation to a shaft, C, whereby theshaft and the cylinder are eccentric one to the other. The cylinder, D,is concentric with the casing, A, and it is supported by the ballbearings, F, for rotation freely within said casing. The members, G, areadapted to be adjusted by a differential screw device herein shown asconsisting of sleeves, h, and screws, h. The sleeves, h, are providedwith exter nal and internal threads, and each sleeve is screwed into afemale threaded boss, 71/ which is provided on the casing, A. Thescrews, h, are threaded into the sleeves and they are connected with themembers, Cr, whereby the sleeves and the screws may be adjusted tosecure an accurate adjustment of the cylinder in contact with the rotarypistons at the point of tangency, after which the bolts, g, should betightened for the purpose of rigidly holding the members, G, and thecylinder, 1), in their adjusted positions.

From the preceding description it will be noted that the shaft, C, andthe cylinder, D, are mounted by independent bearings on the stationarycasing; and, furthermore, the bearings, B, for the shaft, C, areexteriorly of said casing, whereas the bearings, F, for the cylinderarewithin said casing, all as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The division wall, E, is secured at a suitable point within thecylinder, D, so as to produce two piston chambers therein, one of saidpiston chambers, E, receiving the high ressure piston member orabutment, H, while the other piston chamber, E receives the low pressurepiston member or abutment, H. The members, E, E are of different areafor the accommodation of the small and large piston members, H, H,respectively, and both ofthese piston members are made fast with theengine shaft, C, in any suitable way, said piston members beingconcentric with the shaft and occupying an eccentric relation to thecylinder, D, whereby said piston members are adapted for engagement withthe internal surface of the cylinder at one point therein, termed thepoint of tangency, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

The engine shaft, C, is hollow for a part of its length, said shaftbeing preferably bored so as to produce an internal passage, 0,

within which is arranged the devices for supseaees plying and regulatingthe admission of the motive fluid to the high pressure piston member, H,and from the chamber, E, in which said member, H, operates, themotivefluid is exhausted into the chamber, E for the purpose of utilizing saidmotive fluid in' the propulsion of the piston member, H. The hollowpart, 0, of the shaft extends to and through the ball bearing, B, at theright of the engine in Fig. 1, and to the end portion of this hollowpart is secured a sleeve, C, which constitutes an extension of theengine shaft, said extension protruding beyond the I stuffing box, B.

Within the extension, C, of the engine shaft is arranged a supply pipe,I, the inner extremity of which is split to produce the flexiblefingers, 01, each of which is provided with a hook, i. The feed pipe, I,occupies a stationary position within the extension, C, and the endportion of the hollow piston shaft, 0, and the space between saidextension, C, and the feed pipe is filled by a pack ing, 3', whichprevents the leakage of the motive fluid around the feed pipe, saidpacking being confined in place by a sleeve, j, and a collar, the formerbeing secured in the end portion of the hollow shaft, 0, and

the latter being fastened in the end portion of the extension, C.

l/Vithin the hollow part of the shaft, C, is a cut-off, K, which isanchored ina stationary position by the members, i, of the feed pipe, I.This cut-off is shown as consisting of a tube, Zc, preferably of steel,and an incasing material, 70, for said tube, said incasing materialbeing composed of a suitable antifriction metal, such as Babbitt metal,which is cast around the tube, Zc, see Fig. 1. The external diameter ofthe tubular cut off, K, corresponds to the internal diameter of thehollow part, c, of the engine shaft, and the tube, Zc, of this cut-offis extended beyond the Babbitt metal incasing material, 76, whereby theprongs, i, of the feed pipe may be engaged with said tubular cut-off forthe purpose of holding and anchoring it in a stationary position. Thetubular cut-off is provided with a port, Z, which is in the plane ofrotation of the orts, m, m, which are provided in the hig pressurepiston member, H, said ports, m, m, being provided radially in saidpiston member, H, see Figs. 1 and 2. The port, Z, is of suitable area tocoincide with the ports, m, m, of said piston member. It is preferred toprovide the tubular cut-off, K, with notches, Z and Z pocketsare thepiston shoes, L, L, each shoe being hollow and constructed substantiallyas disclosed in my prior patent to which reference has been made. Astherein shown and described, each piston shoe is provided with threearcuate faces, one of which engages with the internal surface of thecylinder, D, and the other two faces engage with the opposite side wallsof the pocket, 0. Each piston shoe is provided, furthermore, with aport, 0, adapted to permit the motive fluid to pass from the properinlet port, m, or m, into the cylinder back of the piston shoe, afterthe latter passes the point of tangency, as will hereinafter appear.

The division wall, E, is provided with a port, E", which issubstantially crescent shaped as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, the inner edge of said port being formed by the piston shaftand the outer edge by the periphery of a circular opening in thedivision wall E, concentric with cylinder, through which opening theshaft passes eccentrically.

The high pressure member, H, of the piston is provided, in addition tothe inlet ports, m, m, with the irregularly shaped exhaust ports, p, p,each exhaust port being of the angular form shown in dotted lines inFig. 4 and full lines in F 6. The exhaust ports, 2), 1), open throughthe periphery of the piston member, H, in advance of the piston shoes,L, L, but the other end of each exhaust port opens through that face ofthe piston member which is next to the division wall, E. Said end of theexhaust port, 7 or p, is of the approximately crescent shape shown infull lines, and in the position shown in Fig. 6, of the drawings. Byreason of this shape and position of the ports p, and 7), they areadapted to register alternately with the port, E of the division wall,E, in a way to properly control the passage of the motive fluid to saidport, E.

The low pressure piston member, H, which operates in the chamber, E ofthe piston cylinder is provided with inlet ports, (1, Q, having theangular form shown in F 3 and 4, each inlet port being approximatelycrescent shaped as shown in full lines in Fig. 3 at the intake endthereof, said end of each exhaust port being formed by three arcs orcircles indicated at 1, 2, and 3. The are 1 is concentric with the axisof the shaft, C, the are 2 is struck from a center at one side of saidaxis of the shaft, and the are 3 is struck from a center at the oppositeside of said axis of the shaft, said arcs 2 and 3 intersecting eachother at the middle of the port. The ends of each port are narrower thanthe middle portion of the port, and by reason of the peculiar relationof the arcs 2 and 3, the port, q, or g, of the low pressure pistonmember H, is adapted to properly register with the port, E in thedivision wall. The outlet ends of the ports (1, 1, open into pockets,1', 1', which are formed in the periphery of said piston member, H, andthese pockets accommodate the piston shoes, M M. Each piston shoe issimilar to one of the shoes, L, L, and to the corresponding shoeemployed in the engine of my prior patent, that is to say, each shoe, M,or M, has three arcuate faces and it is provided with a port, S. The lowpressure piston member, H, is provided, furthernwre, with exhaust ports,15, 1, having the irregular shape shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings. Theintake end of each exhaust port, t or t, opens through the periphery ofthe piston member, H, at one side of a piston shoe, M or M, whereas theother or discharge end of each port, if or t, is of the approximatelycrescent shape and in position shown in Fig. 7. The discharging end ofsaid ports, t, t, are adapted to register alternately with an exhaustport, 0, see Fig. 1, which port is formed in the head, of the pistoncylinder, and from this exhaust port, 0, extends a plurality of exhaustpassages, 0, whereby the motive fluid is exhausted into the stationarycasing, A, from whence the motive lluid is finally exhausted through thedischarge elbow, O, of said casing, A.

The feed pipe, I, is fastened at its upper end to a cap, I, that isbolted to or formed as a part of a bracket P, the latter being made fastwith the stulling box, B, of the a; sing, A, whereby the feed pipe isheld in a stationary position within the rotary engine shaft and thetubular extension, C, thereof. To this cap is bolted the casing, Q, of avalve, Q, the movement of which is controlled by a centrifugal governor,R. The frame, R, of said governor is made fast with the valve casing, Q,and in this frame is journaled the governor shaft, S, one end of saidshaft having a bevel gear, S, adapted to impart motion to the governorhead through the medium of the bevel gear, S The other end of thegovernor shaft is provided with a spur gear, T, which meshes with a gearpinion, T, that is made fast with the extension, of the engine shaft,whereby the governor mechanism is geared to the engine shaft and saidgovernor is thus actuated directly by said engine shaft. It will beunderstood that the stem, Q of the valve is connected with the head ofthe governor, and undue speed of the engine shaft operates the gov--ernor for the purpose of throttling the inlet of steam to the feed pipe,I, this steam being conveyed from a boiler or other source of supply bya pipe, U, which is fastened to the valve casing, Q.

The operation is as follow i-A motive fluid, such as steam, is suppliedby the pipes, U, and I, and through the governor valve, to the hollowpart, c, of the engine shaft. Assuming that the piston shoe, L, haspassed the point of tangency, so that the forward end of said pistonshoe, L, is about degrees to the left of or in advance of said point oftangency, the port, m, of the high pressure piston member, H, registerswith the port, Z, of the tubular cut-off, K, and the motive fluid issupplied to the piston chamber back of the shoe, L, and fills the spacein said chamber between the piston member, H, the cylinder wall, theshoe, L, and the point of tangency, whereby the pressure of the fluiddrives the piston toward the left in Figs. 2 and 3. After the piston andthe shoe have moved through an arc of about 135 degrees from the pointof inlet of the fluid, so that the shoe is on a diameter passing throughthe point of tangency, communication of the port, m, with the port, Z,of the cut-off is interrupted or broken, and the fluid acts expansivelyuntil the forward ends of the shoes, L, L, are in a horizontal plane, orat 90 degrees with a line through the point of tangency. At this time,the crescent shaped discharge end of the exhaust port, 2), registerswith the port E in the division wall, E,

and the crescent shaped intake end of the inlet port, in the lowpressure piston memn ber, H, is also in register with the same port, Ewhereby the fluid passes from the high pressure piston chamber, E, tothe-low pres sure piston chamber, E for the purpose of utilizing thefluid exhausted from the chamber, E, in the chamber, E so as to act onthe piston shoe, M, and assist in driving the piston. The cycle ofoperations described in connection with the shoes, L, M, and port, 1),g, during a revolution is duplicated in connection with the shoes, L, M,and ports, 19, 9, but at 180 degrees behind the first mentioned cycle ofoperation, thereby obviating a dead point and securing an even turningeflect, it being noted that the fluid acts both by pressure andexpansion in the respective chambers of the cylinder. The fluid isexhausted from the low pressure chamber, E by the alternate registrationof the exhaust ports, t, t, with the chamber, O, from whence the fluidis discharged through the passages, 0 into the casing, A, and thencethrough the outlet, 0

The peculiar shape of the ports, 29, p, and q, in the members, H, H, ofthe piston, and of the shape and eccentric relation to the aforesaidports of the port, E in the division wall, E, between the chambers ofthe cylinder, is an advantage for the reason that the fluid iscontrolled in such a way as to properly cut off and supply the fluidfrom one chamber to the other. The intake ends of the ports, q, q, inthe piston member, H, are so related to the eccentric port, E that therear end of the front port is out of register with the eccentric port, Ewhen the forward end of the rear port is beginning to register with saideccentric port, E The exhaust ports, 19, 19, may

both be in register with the port, E, at the same time, the ports, t, t,may also be both in register with the port, O, at the same time. Thiscondition is shown in Fig. 3 for ports, t, if. As already described,when the forward ends of either pair of shoes reach a plane at 90degrees with the point of tangency, the exhaust port for the forwardshoe registers with its outlet port. As shown in Fig. 3, the forwardends of the shoes have passed said plane and the exhaust port, if, forthe shoe M, has registered with the port, 0, but the port, If, is stillin register with the port, 0, in order to exhaust the motive fluidbetween the shoe, M, and the point of tangency.

In starting the engine, should the ports, m, 'm, be out of register withthe port, Z, in the cut-off, K, the fluid is admitted by the forwardlyand backwardlyextending ports, Z, P, in said cut-ofl' to one or theother of the inlet ports, m, m.

The governor is driven directly by the extension C, of the engine shaft,and in the event of excessive speed, said governor shifts the valve, Q,to throttle the inlet of the fluid to the engine.

Although I have shown and described the invention as embodied in acompound engine wherein two pistons and two chambers are used so as toutilize the steam twice, both by pressure and expansion, it will beunderstood that the principle of the invention may be extended by addingto the number of pistons, chambers and other co-related parts for usingthe steam expansively an increased number of times, or the engine may beconstructed with but one cylinder and piston member.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an engine, a plurality of cylinders, a division wall between saidcylinders and provided with a substantially crescent shaped port oropening, an eccentric piston member or abutment having exhaust ports adated to register successively with the port 0' the division wall, andanother eccentric piston member having intake ports adapted to registerwith said port of the division wall.

2. In an engine, a plurality of piston cham bers, a division wallbetween said chambers, said division wall having a crescent shaped port,and a plurality of eccentric piston members each having approximatelycrescent shaped ports adapted to register with the port of said divisionwall.

3. In an engine, a cylinder, a division wall therein, having asubstantially crescent shaped port, and a piston provided with substantially crescent shaped ports one end of said ports in the pistonbeing composed of a plura ity of intersecting arcs struck from differentcenters, two of said arcs forming one wall of the port and the remainingare the other wall thereof.

4. In an engine, a cylinder, a division wall therein, having asubstantially crescent shaped port, and piston members,'one havingexhaust ports and the other provided with inlet ports, the ends of saidports next to the aforesaid division-wall port being substantiallycrescent shaped and the ports in the I low pressure piston member beingso related to one another that one piston port is moving out of registerwith the division-wall port when the other piston port is moving intoregister with said division-wall port, and the cxhaust ports of the highpressure piston member are so related and constructed that each portwill come in register with the divisionwall port, when the forward endsof the high pressure piston shoes are in a plane substantially at 90degrees with a plane through the point of tangency, and will continue inregistcr with said division-wall port during about three quarters of arevolution.

5. .In an engine, a cylinder, a division-wall therein, having aneccentric substantially crescent-shaped port, a piston member havingradial inlet ports and irregular exhaust ports, the latter havingcrescent-shaped delivery ends adapted to register with the aforesaideccentric division wall port, shoes movable with the piston member,another piston member provided with inlet ports, which ports at theirintake ends are substantially crescent-shaped and are adapted toregister with the aforesaid eccentric division wall port, exhaust ports,in the last mentioned piston member, an exhaust chamber and ports in thecylinder, and piston shoes seated in the second named piston member overthe inlet ports thereof. 6. In an engine, a stationary casing, a pistonshaft ournaled therein, a rotatable cylin der Within said casing,bearings engaging the ends of said cylinder for supporting it at theaxis of rotation within the casing, and adjusting means cooperating withsaid bearings for bodily adjusting said. cylinder with respect to thepiston member, whereby the cylinder is brought into av proper degree ofcon tact with the piston member at the point of tangency.

7. In an engine, a stationary casing, a piston shaft journaled therein,a rotatable cylinder within the casing, slides on which said cylinder issupported, and means for adjusting said slides, whereby the cylinder maybe adjusted relatively to the piston member.

8. In an engine, stationary casing, a )iston shaft ournaled therein, arotatable cylinder within the casing, slides on which said cylinder issupported, and double screws for adjusting said slides.

9. In an engine, a stationary casing, a piston shaft eccentric with thecasing, slides mounted on the casing, a cylinder rotatably mounted onthe slides and arranged eccentric to the shaft, said cylinder havingopenings for the passage of the shaft, and double screws whereby theeccentric cylinder may be adjusted to proper contact with the pistonmember.

10. In an engine, a casing having ball bearings, a shaft eccentric tothe casing and sup ported by said bearings, slides mounted on the casingand provided with ball bearings, means for adjusting the slides, meansfor fastening the slides in fixed relation to the casings and arotatable cylinder mounted by the second named bearings on the aforesaidslides so as to turn freely thereon and to be adjusted therewith.

11. In an engine, a cylinder, a solid piston shaft hollow for a part ofits length, a piston having inlet ports, a non-revoluble cut-offsituated in the hollow part of said shaft and having a port adapted toregister with the inlet ports of said piston,- a steam inlet pipeentering said hollow part of the shaft, and rigid anchoring means on theinlet pipe ongaging loosely with said cut-off.

12. In an engine, a cylinder, a hollow piston shaft, a piston havinginlet ports, a. nonrevoluble cut-off situated in said shaft and having aport adapted to register with the inlet ports of said piston, a supplypipe the inner end of which enters the piston shaft, and rigid membersextending from the supply pipe and loosely connected with said cutofffor holding the same in position within the hollow shaft.

13. In an engine, a cylinder, a hollow piston shaft, a piston havinginlet ports, a nonrevoluble cut-off situated in said shaft and having aport adapted to register with the inlet ports of said piston, saidcut-off being provided, also, with auxiliary ports which communicatenormally with the aforesaid port, of the said cut-off, and means forretaining the cut-off in position.

14. In an engine, a hollow piston-shaft, and a composite cut-off in saidshaft, said cut-01f comprising a hollow core and a jacket composed ofanti-friction metal incasing said core, the core and the jacket beingprovided with )orts for the inlet and egress of a motive f uid.

15. In an engine, a hollow rotatable piston shaft, a composite tubularcut-offin said shaft, said cut-off con'iprising a metallic tube and anincasing material of anti-friction metal for said tube, and anchoringmeans for said cut-off.

16. In an engine, a hollow rotatable piston shaft, a tubular cut-offtherein, an inlet pipe, and rigid anchoring means fast with said pipeand having a loose connection with said cut-off.

17. In an engine, a hollow rotatable piston loosely attached to thecut-off.

shaft, a tubular cut-0E therein, a supply pipe, and members fast withthe pipe and 18. In an engine, a hollow rotatable piston shaft, atubular cut-ofi therein, a supply pipe, and fingers extending from saidpipe and connected loosely to said cut-01f for retaining the latter inposition.

19. In an engine, a hollow rotatable piston shaft, atubular cut-offtherein, a non-revoluble supply pipe connected to said cut-off, meansfor holding said pipe from rotation Within said piston shaft, and apacking between the pipe and the piston shaft.

20. In an engine, a rotatable hollow piston i ply pipe, a valvesupported by the bracket in cooperative relation to the supply pipe, anda governor geared to the piston shaft and cooperating with the valve.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ALFRED I. OSTRANDER.

l/Vitnesses H. I. BERNHARD, MARGARET C. PoWELL.

